WB bought the spec preemptively before other studios got a crack at the material, which kept Warner in business with the filmmaker after smash hit “The Dark Knight” (Daily Variety, Feb. 12).

Production begins this summer for 2010 release.

The subject matter has been kept under tight wraps, with the studio describing the film as a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.

Nolan will produce with Emma Thomas.

The film is Nolan’s first with Cotillard and Page, but he is reteaming with Murphy, who played the villain Scarecrow in “Batman Begins,” with a cameo in “The Dark Knight.” Murphy just completed “Peacock” and “Perrier’s Bounty.”

Cotillard will next be seen in the Michael Mann-directed “Public Enemies” and just completed the Rob Marshall-helmed musical “Nine.”

Page just teamed with Murphy in “Peacock” and starred in the Drew Barrymore-directed “Whip It!”